Auctioned by the Gods: Rebirth of the Harem Emperor

The bridge under Ren's feet vibrated with each heavy step of his monstrous double.Stone cracked, sending tiny shards tumbling into the endless dark. Somewhere below, whispers rose — hungry, echoing voices that sounded eerily like his own.

The Emperor lunged. Not like a duelist, not like the careful tactician Ren had always been — but like a starving beast. His hands closed around Ren's throat, icy and impossibly strong.

Ren gagged, fingers clawing at that grip. His vision danced with red sparks.

"You think you've escaped me?" the Emperor snarled. Up close, his face was almost identical — but the eyes were wrong, pits of silver-ringed black. His breath smelled like burnt iron. "You chose memory, love, pain. But I was always there, waiting under your ribs. The part of you that didn't want to beg ever again."

Ren managed to wrench his knee up, driving it into the Emperor's gut. The grip loosened just enough for him to gasp in a shuddering breath. He slammed his forehead forward — pain bloomed as their skulls cracked together, and the Emperor staggered back with a snarl.

Blood trickled from Ren's brow, warm and reassuringly real.

"I'm not you," he rasped, chest heaving. "I might carry your rage. Your hunger. But I'll never be the coward who builds thrones out of chains just to keep from being alone."

The Emperor's laugh was a jagged thing. "You keep telling yourself that. But I watched every tender night you spent with Lyra. Every time you touched her, part of you sighed because it finally owned something. Not loved. Owned."

He charged again.This time Ren was ready.

He ducked low, grabbing the Emperor around the waist, driving forward with all his weight. They tumbled across the bridge in a snarling heap. Fists flew — each punch Ren landed felt like striking stone. The Emperor's counters were worse, heavy blows that made Ren's ribs shriek, his vision flash white.

"Without me, you'd still be kneeling before auctioneers!" the Emperor roared, seizing Ren's throat again, shoving him back against cracked basalt. "Begging gods to spare your worthless skin! I'm the one who taught you to take what you want!"

"You taught me to fear losing everything," Ren spat, wrenching one arm free to slam his elbow into the Emperor's face. Bone crunched under his strike. "But Lyra… Lyra taught me to live anyway."

The Emperor reeled, hand rising to his broken nose. Black ichor oozed between his fingers, steaming where it hit the bridge.

Then he smiled — teeth sharp and shining."Then let's see what your love does when I rip her away."

He snapped his fingers.

The bridge warped.Shapes appeared in the dark — ghostly scenes blooming like wounds in the air.

Lyra, standing alone in a ruined garden, her hair tangled with thorns. Tears streaked her cheeks as she called his name, over and over, voice breaking.

Lyra, kneeling before a cold throne, golden eyes vacant as chains slithered up her arms.

Lyra, sprawled in blood-soaked sheets, reaching for someone who wasn't there.

Ren's chest seized. "Stop!"

"You want to protect her? Then protect her from yourself!" the Emperor roared, launching forward again. They crashed together, grappling, feet skidding across the slick bridge.

Every time Ren tried to find an opening, the Emperor anticipated it.Every dirty trick Ren had ever learned — feints, sudden kicks to the knee, shifting his weight at the last moment — the Emperor mirrored them perfectly.

They were too alike. Each blow met by a counter, each gasp of pain matched by a cruel smile.

And all around them, those visions of Lyra grew sharper. Her sobs echoed louder. The scent of crushed flowers and old blood filled Ren's lungs, made his stomach twist.

"She dies every time you choose love over power," the Emperor whispered against his ear, twisting Ren's arm behind his back until agony lanced up his shoulder."Because love makes you weak. Makes you hesitate. You could have ruled this universe, crushed every god who dared look her way — if only you hadn't been so desperate to keep her heart free."

Ren's knees hit the bridge. His vision swam. The Emperor's weight bore down, cold breath ghosting over his neck.

"You think she'd stay if she saw what you really are?" the Emperor purred. "Just another frightened boy, trembling in the dark, hoping someone will choose him. Pathetic."

The chain appeared again — that same silver-black length dripping shadows. It slithered up from the Emperor's hand, coiling around Ren's throat, tightening with a sinuous, hungry pull.

Ren's breath cut off. His fingers clawed at it, but the chain only bit deeper, cold burning into his skin.

Then — faint, but so achingly clear — he heard her.

"Ren."

Lyra's voice, trembling, fierce.

"Don't you dare give up. Don't you dare let him win."

The chain loosened. Just a hair. Enough for Ren to suck in a ragged gasp.

The Emperor's snarl twisted. "You cling to her voice like a dying man clutching driftwood. Pathetic."

Ren's hands fell from the chain.Instead, they seized the Emperor's wrists — gripping so tight he felt bones grind under his fingers.

"Not pathetic," he croaked. "Loved."

And with a roar that tore his throat raw, he surged up. The chain snapped. His forehead crashed into the Emperor's jaw, then he twisted, throwing them both sideways.

They landed hard, Ren on top now. He drove his fist into the Emperor's face once, twice, three times. Black ichor splattered his knuckles. The Emperor laughed even as teeth shattered.

"You can't kill me," he hissed through broken lips. "I am you."

Ren's eyes burned. "Then let me show you what part of me you forgot."

He slammed a knee between the Emperor's legs, driving him back. The Emperor howled — a raw, ugly sound — and Ren grabbed his throat, shoving him to the very edge of the bridge.

"You forgot Lyra," Ren snarled. "You forgot every shiver when she touched us, every tear she shed because we were worth breaking for. You forgot how good it feels to be chosen freely."

The Emperor clawed at him, eyes wild. "Fool — she'll leave you! They all will. And then you'll come crawling back to me."

"No," Ren breathed.Then he pushed.

The Emperor's scream echoed long after he vanished into the void below.

Ren collapsed to his knees, chest heaving. His hands trembled, stained with dark ichor that already began to evaporate in cold wisps.

The bridge shifted. A soft glow bloomed ahead — moonlight on water, warm and beckoning.

Lyra stood there. Tears streaked her face, but her smile was brilliant. Without hesitation, she ran to him, falling to her knees, arms wrapping tight around his shoulders.

"You're here," she whispered, voice breaking. "Gods, I was so afraid—"

Ren buried his face in her neck, inhaling her sweet, living scent. His arms crushed her close.

"I almost lost myself," he rasped. "Almost became everything we fought so hard to escape."

"But you didn't," she breathed. Her hands cupped his cheeks, guiding his gaze to hers. "You came back. To me."

The void around them faded. Warm light spilled across the bridge, banishing the last of the shadows.

And as Ren clutched Lyra to his chest, he realized it wasn't power or thrones that made him strong.

It was this:A goddess trembling in his arms, choosing him over every safe, silent eternity.